how to score >=50

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how to score >=50

by sg1928 » Wed Jul 15, 2009 10:07 am
Guys,

If someone can answer this, that would be very helpful for lot of guys who want to cross the half century barrier in Math. I have taken few practice tests, more recently one gmat prep test. I could get 49 in Math. I am not so great in Verbal and still struggling hard to get the SC part right. I would like to put more focus on Math so that it would compensate my not so well performance in Verbal.

What does it take to get 50+? How many mistakes I can afford to make and in which part of the exam? I know in this exam I need to focus on all the questions, but usually I spend more time on the first 20 questions and I rush in the later part because of time constraint. Hence I make more mistakes at the later part. I think that is the reason for my 49 and not 50. Also, please let me know how to manage my time in math.

Thanks in advance,

Sid

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by mike22629 » Wed Jul 15, 2009 10:15 am
I got a 50Q and I would say that I probably had 4 mistakes or fewer. But you are most certainly approaching this wrong. Spend your time focusing on verbal and your score will increase more. Trust me on this one. Just do not completely neglect Quant and you will probably get the 50 anyways. I went from high 40s to 50 simply from doing problems on this site.

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by mike22629 » Wed Jul 15, 2009 10:17 am
For time management, focus on cutting time on DS. Most DS problems, even the highest level problems, can be done with writing anything down. Focus on learning this and time will not be an issue (I finished with 9 minutes left).

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by sg1928 » Wed Jul 15, 2009 10:40 am
mike22629 wrote:For time management, focus on cutting time on DS. Most DS problems, even the highest level problems, can be done with writing anything down. Focus on learning this and time will not be an issue (I finished with 9 minutes left).
That's great piece of advice Mike. I will try spending less time on DS and test my accuracy. Regarding Verbal part, I am working on it much more than Math. My problem is SC and working towards it. I am making 12-15 mistakes in Verbal in pratice tests (I am using Manhattan prep exams). Currently I am working on 1000SC to get a feel of frequently tested patterns in SC before I hit the exam which is just 3 weeks away. Any piece of advice on the verbal front would be great. btw, what is your score split v and math?

Thanks again,
Sid

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by mike22629 » Wed Jul 15, 2009 12:10 pm
Im probably not the most qualified to give advice on verbal. I got a 36V (even though I think that my ability is closer to 40). For me, timing absolutely KILLED me for verbal. I also had trouble with SC for a while, but I would say that the best way to approach SC is to realize that you either know it or you don't. Do not spend too much time deciding between two choices. Chances are you will be no better off deciding between the two choices even after looking over them for another minute. Once you hit a bump in SC, make educated guess and move on. Mastering the timing for the GMAT is literally half the battle. Good luck!

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by rah_pandey » Fri Jul 17, 2009 3:00 am
According to my analysis. 1 point increase in score in quant fetches you 5 point overall increase whereas 1 point increase in verbal 7-8. and you are almost at saturation level in quant. You know what to do now i hope? Just dont slip in maths, and work on verbal